Howling Storm
by Shiya Damu
Summary: Kiba Inuzuka's life has been filled with hurt. Hurt filled by his abusive father, and his missingnin sister. As he struggles to pick up the pieces of his life, a storm is coming to take away all he holds dear, including his newfound love, Sakura Haruno.


Disclaimer: Wish I did, but unfortunately I don't own Naruto. I do own this plot and some of the OC's involved in it. Kay?

The alarm clock rang, breaking the silence and beckoning in a new day. From beneath the blanket under which he slept, an older teenage boy reached out and smacked the alarm clock with a groan.

He rolled over several times, and at a strange wet feeling on his face, opened his eyes. A fairly large dog was on top of his body, breathing on him and licking him as if he was a fresh bowl of ramen.

Inuzuka Kiba looked up at his dog. Akamaru, his best friend and loyal companion. The dog who had been his companion for the last five years. The dog whose weight was now crushing his body.

Kiba tried once, feebly to push him off. Useless. The dog obviously wanted his breakfast. And he wanted it NOW. Kiba gave a small laugh as he rolled out form under Akamaru and stumbled onto the floor.

"Give me a minute, okay boy?," he said to Akamaru, who was looking up at him with his signature sad puppy eyes.

He went to the window and opened it, letting in a nice salty breeze. Dark grey clouds filled the sky, shading the village in their peaceful shadow. Kiba closed his eyes and let the breeze play with his messy dark brown hair.

"What a great day. Perfect to train", he mused. HE loved cloudy days, unlike the rest of his team.

Walking to the basin, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. It was amazing how his appearance had changed in the last few years. His brown messy hair was now longer, his eyes deeper and more mature. He now stood taller though he knew he would never stand quite as tall as some others, such as Uzimaki. He was much more muscular than he had been in his days as a Chunin.

After splashing some water on his face, he went into the kitchen grabbed some raw bacon strips and laid them out for Akamaru. For breakfast he gulped down three of the Barbequed Dumplings that Choji had bought to celebrate accomplishing their last mission (Lady Tsunade had paired their two teams together as she often did now that they were all Jonin).

After an hour, he was showered and ready. He pulled on his fur jacket and whistled to Akamaru. Akamaru came running up and jumped up and down, looking playfully at his master.

Kiba smiled and made a few hand signs, and Akamaru transformed into a puppy in a puff of smoke. Kiba smiled and let Akamaru jump onto his arm and then burrow into his coat.

"It's going to rain," Shino said, pointing with obvious boredom up at the clouds.

It was fairly obvious, yet Kurenai and Hinata held their tongues for Shino was… different. One of his eccentricities just happened to be pointing out the obvious.

"Hai, Shino-san", Hinata said, pointing up.

Thousands of icy droplets burst forth from the clouds, racing to earth and colliding with the tender green of the Training Ground in a burst of watery foam.

"Hey everyone, I'm here!", came a cry as Kiba and Akamaru came racing up to the training ground. Kiba looked up at the rain with pure joy in his eyes; he loved the rain as well.

"You're late", Shino snapped without even so much as glancing in his direction.

"And?", Kiba said cheerfully with a grin. Hinata giggled.

_At least SHE's got a sense of humor, _Kiba thought.

"Okay, okay," Kurenai said. "We don't need to start the day of with you two bickering. We're going out to the field to practice our usual routine. Team7 will be joining us as well. This is our last day training for a while, so it better be enough. And don't bother asking what's been planned for tomorrow. It's a surprise", she finished.

_Another mission, maybe?, _Kiba wondered.

_It's about time. I guess Lady Hokage decided to give us a rest after the last one. Not like I need it. I'm not a kid anymore, after all I'm a Jonin dammit._

Slowly his thoughts turned to Team 7.

_Why are we paired up with them of all people? If there's a mission then this means we'll probably be teamed up with them. What the hell, does Tsunade not trust us to do anything on our own??_

"Kiba, Akamaru, try to keep up", Kurenai called.

With a start Kiba realized the others had started on foot without him. He took off running and crashed through the woods to the clearing where the group had stopped momentarily.

Shino turned to him and smirked.

"Keep up."

Kiba opened his mouth but Hinata turned and shook her head.

_Damn you, Shino._

After a few minutes walking through the woods, they emerged to an open field. The rain was still cascading down, matting the wet earth with moisture. Kiba took in the scenery, loving the rain even more. He was one who couldn't stand to constantly be in the blinding sunlight.

There was a rustling in the trees a few feet away and a new group of people emerged: the members of Team 7.

He instantly recognized Uzimaki Naruto. Tall, blonde, and the same idiotic look on his face as always.

Behind him came Hatake Kakashi, the mysterious one in the trio. In his younger days, Kiba had regarded him as a powerful Jonin, but now he was on equal footing with him. Still, he couldn't help but vaguely wonder if he could defeat him in a real battle.

Last came Haruno Sakura.

Soft pink hair, beautiful, deep, green eyes, and an even more beautiful smile. She was adorned in a sleeveless red top and what appeared to be the bottom of a yukata, which she had tailored to look more like a miniskirt.

A different feeling met Kiba when she appeared. It was a sort of slight pain—a lurching in his stomach at the sight of her. He smiled awkwardly at her but she seemed to be taking in the view of the field as he had when he first arrived.

_At least someone likes the rain,_ he thought, glaring at Shino before looking back at her.

He couldn't tell what it was about her that made him feel like this.

At the sight of Sakura, Akamaru barked happily and jumped out of Kiba's jacket to gallop up to the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura giggled and ran her fingers through Akamaru's fur.

"Hey there, boy, ya miss me?".

Akamaru barked twice in response, then ran back to Kiba, jumping up and down at his feet.

"Hey there, Kiba! Hinata! Shino!", Sakura called, waving to everyone.

Kiba blushed and waved back, as did Hinata. Shino merely shrugged and turned away silently.

"So, dog-boy? You think you can keep up with me?", Naruto teased, his eyes squinted as he glanced at Kiba and Akamaru.

"Just remember who you're talking to, idiot", Kiba said rolling his eyes.

"Now, now", Kakashi said, peering at the group from behind his newly purchased copy of 'Icha Icha Temptation'.

"Okay, everyone, I believe we know the training regimen? It's a basic game of tag in the woods. You have five minutes to achieve hiding position. To be considered tagged, you must have a wound of some kind. I believe Sakura will be all to pleased to heal your wounds before we leave," Kurenai explained.

_Whatever. I won't let any of them catch me, or Akamaru for that matter._

He looked up and saw Sakura, poised, ready to go leaping into the woods.

A smile tugged at his lips.

_That idiot's always been right about one thing. You can't achieve anything without dedication and hard work. I have to train hard to be great…to be someone __**HE**__ would be proud of. And to make those I care about recognize me._

He glanced over at Sakura again and couldn't help but give another smile.

_It starts…today._

Kurenai's whistle blew and Kiba and Akamaru dashed off into the darkness of the wood.

**I'm sorry if some of the people seem OOC. I'm trying to work on it, this is my first Naruto fic. I'm trying to make Kiba seem similair to Naruto in many ways, such as via his rivalry with Shino which equals that of Naruto and Sasuke.**

**Don't worry; I'll start developing the romance soon enough. -**

**On the other hand I have to warn you all about some upcoming chapters….**

**I like to put my characters through lots of hardship, and in Kiba's case that's an understatement. I just want you all to know for future reference that I'm not bashing him (I would never do that to my favorite character), it's just that my version of Kiba has gone through a lot of emotional haedship.**

**Anyway that's all for now. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. Tell me what'cha think, kay??**


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